The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Although today's computers are more sophisticated than EDVAC, the most basic requirements levied upon computer systems have not changed. Now, as in the past, a computer system's job is to access, manipulate, and store information. This fact is true regardless of the type or vintage of computer system.
One of the most commonly encountered types of information is a list of elements, such as a list of numbers. Computer users frequently need to know the statistical properties of the list, such as its sum, average, and standard deviation. One conventional way to determine this information is to first transfer the list into a spreadsheet application, then program the spreadsheet application to calculate the desired properties. One problem with this method is that the user must have access to a spreadsheet application and know how to program it. Another problem with this method is that the transfer and programming steps frequently take a considerable amount of time and effort from the user.
The trend toward pervasive devices, such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) further compounds these problems. Many of these devices have limited memory and processing power, and thus do not have a full-featured spreadsheet program. Moreover, even if the pervasive devices did have the capacity to execute a spreadsheet program, the rudimentary data entry capabilities of pervasive devices multiply the time and effort required from the user to transfer the data and program the spreadsheet.
Accordingly, there is a need for a way to quickly and easily obtain statistical information about a list of elements, particularly on pervasive devices.